Charles Duffy’s career transition has (literally) taken
him 6,000 miles — all the way from law practice in Portland to a remarkably
different type of work in Rome, Italy. Duffy spent 30 years as a successful
trial lawyer, including 20 years as the author’s law partner, followed
by stint in a solo practice, and he always liked his work. But a few years
ago his life and his perspectives began to change.

One factor, Duffy says, is that he didn’t like
the sense of isolation he came to feel as a solo. "I missed the
human connection of working collaboratively," he admits. But his
ponderings on connections reached deeper levels. Like a lot of lawyers
in midlife, he began exploring some of the spiritual issues that had
been on his mind for years, contemplating the life mysteries that seem
beyond our understanding. Feeling like he needed structure in contemplating
those mysteries, he participated in an in-depth, year-long spirituality
course offered by the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits.
That course helped him focus on what he wanted out of the rest of his
life.

He reports that he also greatly benefited from a three-week
course sponsored by the Oregon State Bar, called "Lawyers in Transition." That
course helped him focus not so much on "whether to leave the law," but
instead to focus on, as he puts it, "what it was about my life
as a lawyer that I didn’t like — that gave me a different
perspective?"

After a period of evaluating their lives at the time
and their aspirations for the future, Duffy and his wife, a successful
graphic artist and advertising executive, decided that it was time
for a change. And what a change ultimately came their way.

Here’s how it unfolded: Duffy’s contacts
with the Jesuits in Oregon led him to do some part-time work for the
provincial office in Portland. Over the next five years, he increased
his duties with the Jesuits and began phasing out of his law practice.

Two years ago, Duffy and his wife decided that they wanted
to live in Europe, so they both began studying Italian at a local university.
In the summer of 2006, they rented an apartment in Rome that they could
use as their base of operations for traveling and working in Europe
for a couple of years. At that time, Duffy didn’t have a job
in Italy, but was encouraged by the words of a Goethe couplet: "Whatever
you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power
and magic in it."

And then the magic happened — Duffy got a call
from a Jesuit colleague who was stationed in Rome asking if he would
be interested in working for the Society of Jesus at its Rome headquarters.
The position was one that would take advantage of his prior experience
working in Portland, as well as the skills and analytical abilities
that he had honed over the years as a lawyer. Duffy said yes — and
now he has started his new job organizing a development office at the
Vatican headquarters of the Jesuits. (His wife will continue her Portland-based
work via the Internet from Rome.)

"The best thing about working with the Jesuits has
been the spiritual component," he says. "It’s not just
a job, but there is a sense of mission, a sense of trying to make the
world a better place." His advice for those contemplating what
they want out of life is to ask the difficult question "What do
I want?" — but then to go further and ask the still-more
difficult question "What do I really want?"

"This can be a challenging question for a person
approaching 50, or even older," Duffy acknowledges. "The
answer may open up previously unexplored territory, and it may take
some time." The trick, he says, "is to act on the answer."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. William Gibson is a sole practitioner in Clackamas.

This article originally appeared in the ABA’s
Law Practice magazine (October/ November 2007) and is reprinted with
permission.